For Seun Anikulapo-Kuti, music has never been a sport and the growing tendency to treat it like one feels wrong . The Afrobeat musician and leader of Egypt ‘80 addressed his long-standing frustration with the constant comparisons between Afrobeats superstar Wizkid and his late father, the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
“There shouldn’t even be comparisons amongst artists at all,” Seun said bluntly. In his view, framing music as a competitive arena diminishes the very essence of art. “Music is not sports; nobody enters music to compete. So, what we must ask is why people bring competitive spirit into art?”
Seun’s comments come after a week of public pushback against fans who, in praising modern Afrobeats stars, often do so by placing them “above” Fela a move Seun believes undercuts his father’s legacy rather than honors contemporary artists. A day after his January 11 birthday, Seun expanded on these thoughts during an appearance on The Morayo Show, a nationally syndicated talk show, where he challenged the logic behind such comparisons.
“I can say Wizkid is the greatest artist of all time; it carries weight,” Seun explained. “Why must you add ‘more than Fela’?” To him, the addition is unnecessary and revealing. It suggests that validation can only come from surpassing a legend, rather than standing firmly on one’s own achievements.
Seun also pointed to how other cultures protect their musical icons. Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley and South African jazz pioneer Hugh Masekela, he argued, are rarely invoked as benchmarks to be overtaken. “You will not hear anyone say they’re the new Bob Marley, and you will never hear anybody comparing any artists today to Bob Marley,” he noted. The reverence afforded to these figures contrasts sharply with how Fela’s name is repeatedly pulled into debates about modern stardom.
Ironically, Wizkid himself has never hidden his admiration for Fela. The Afrobeat pioneer’s face is tattooed on his body, and Wizkid’s early hit “Jaiye Jaiye” featured Fela’s eldest son, Femi Kuti. He has also performed multiple times at Felabration, the annual festival celebrating Fela’s life and work. Yet as Wizkid’s global success soared in the late 2010s, sections of his fervent fanbase began to brand him as a “modern-day Fela,” drawing parallels between Wizkid’s international reach and Fela’s cultural impact during his lifetime.
Around the same period, Burna Boy emerged with a narrative that some felt aligned more closely with Fela’s lineage. Burna Boy’s grandfather Benson Idonije once managed Fela symbolic gestures like performing at Felabration in little more than briefs, and musical nods such as interpolating “Sorrow, Tears & Blood” on his 2018 hit “YE,” Burna Boy openly leaned into the Afrobeat legacy. His politically charged tracks on African Giant further fueled perceptions of him as an heir to Fela’s socially conscious spirit.
Still, for Seun Kuti, none of this justifies placing artists on a ladder that ends with Fela at the top or below anyone else. “If you want Wizkid to be great, he’s the greatest, I agree with you,” he said pointedly. “Leave my father’s name out of it.”
At its core, Seun’s message is a plea for perspective: greatness does not need comparison to exist. Afrobeats can celebrate its global stars without rewriting or diminishing the legacy of the man who helped lay its foundation. In honoring both past and present on their own terms, the culture and the music stands to gain far more
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